


Talking in my Shoes

by FictionLover007



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bilingual Lance (Voltron), But they'll make up for it later, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Inspired from Modern Family, Langst, The other characters appear but they aren't important to the plot, pidge is kinda an asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 14:47:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10721439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionLover007/pseuds/FictionLover007
Summary: Pidge says some hurtful things, and Lance sets them straight, and now everyone is left realizing just how much they don't know about the Blue Paladin. Histories will come to light, and this group of pilots will finally become a proper team. Set in season 1.





	Talking in my Shoes

It became somewhat of a routine after a while, to liberate a planet from a terrorizing monster, or to invade some Galra spaceship, free the prisoners, and take them home. They would then participate in the celebration afterwards so Allura could gather allies in their resistance against Zarkon. Initially, Lance enjoyed it. He loved the festive atmosphere, the vibrant, happy mood of the people around him, and he liked talking to random aliens about their adventures in space and on Earth. But this latest one, well, this one was not so enjoyable.

The latest prisoners that they had rescued were from this planet covered in grass plains, canyons, and were bountiful in indigenous edible resources. They were pack creatures that worked together to harvest, and apparently, that made them perfect to collect raw materials for the Galra. The whole planet species was one pack, which then divided into sub packs, or familial packs. As a result of their bonds, they did not like the idea of someone being alone, so Allura had divided them into groups of two. Hunk with Keith and Lance with Pidge. Shiro remained with Allura and Coran.

Lance didn’t know why he was with Pidge, when he probably would have gotten on better with Hunk or even Keith, but Allura insisted. Lance scanned the room, spotting the Yellow and Red Paladins by a table laden with food. Hunk filled his plate and taste-tested everything, while Keith watched baby aliens play with the table covering. He saw the Black Paladin deep in conversation with the pack leader, Lance guessed, while Coran and Allura occasionally participated.

Speaking of conversation, Lance tuned back into the conversation Pidge was holding with some of the former prisoners, and was exasperated to hear that the subject was STILL on Galran technology. It was the only thing Pidge had been talking about for an hour, and Lance didn’t understand most of it at this point.

“What I can’t seem to understand is how the Galra are able to make long-distance video calls throughout the extent of their empire, which has to be at least 85% of the observable universe, which converts to roughly 79 billion light-years. They would need an incredibly strong signal, coupled with a way to send those calls out, or at least bounce them around, and so far, we’ve encountered none of the technology they use to do it. 

“You see, Green Paladin, that is why the Galra conquer the planets, and build bases upon them. Each ground base is equipped with a type of “satellite dish” as you referred to it earlier, and the main ships, like the battle-class ones you’ve only encountered a few time, where the commanders are, are the only ones able to send and receive those messages of that size, by bouncing the signal to a sequence of bases to ensure quality communication between ranking officials. The smaller ones, like the troop transports and the prison ships aren’t able to do that, which is why you have not encountered them.”

“But the speed that it must be travelling, how are the Galra able to achieve that.”

Speed. Okay, that Lance could understand. “It would have to be travelling at the speed of light, in order for those messages to go through, right?” Lance asked.

Pidge turned to Lance, with a put-off expression. “No Lance. It would have to be travelling faster than that. Light can only travel at 670,600,000 miles per hour, hence the reason it takes a whole Earth year to travel 5,879,000,000,000 miles, hence the name light year. If a Galra ship was at the very edge of the empire and the main base was at the center, it would take 39,525,000,000 years for someone to hear just one side of the conversation. Therefore, it would have to be travelling faster. Much faster.”

“But then why don’t they just cut the distance, by making wormholes, and send the signal through that? The technology exists?”

“Weren’t you listening earlier? Wormholes, while they are an effective way to travel, are not beneficial to space, because imploding wormholes, like the one that we were in, are just as bad as black holes. Stuff gets dragged in, and stuck in a continuous cycle of slowing decreasing into nothingness. It’s not a clear end-to-end tunnel, and the risk is too high. You could destroy a ship thanks to an imploding wormhole, or the signal gets stuck in there. Honestly, it’s like you can’t even understand what I’m saying half the time.”

And that was the kicker, the catalyst, the edge that Lance tipped off of. The whole room just melted away, and the only thing Lance could really hear was his own heartbeat. And then he just…burst.

"No, realmente, no entiendo que la mitad del tiempo, porque la mayoría del tiempo, usted está utilizando palabras y frases que no conozco. Usted pasó la última hora hablando de algo que usted comprenda claramente, y no sé que hacer porque no soy tan bueno en la ciencia y la tecnología como usted!”. (1)

Suddenly, everyone in the room was staring at him, in shock of the outburst. Pidge’s mouth was hanging open, and the prisoners that they had been speaking too watched him in interest, and then one of them stepped forward.

“Pardon me, Blue Paladin, but was that a different tongue?”

Lance broke eye contact with a still stunned Pidge, to look at the former prisoner. “Different tongue?”

“Yes. We speak in tongues, the universal tongue is the one that we were speaking in, but you seemed to switch to a different one.”

“Oh,” Lance flushed. “Yeah, I guess. It’s a different language, as switching tongues is referred to, where we come from.”

“Does your planet have many languages?”

“Um, yeah. It has thousands. Although, many of them only have a small population of people who can speak it.”

“But, how do you universally communicate? Doesn’t the change in tongue make it difficult to communicate?”

“Well, yes. But that’s why lots of people learn more than one language, or try to, in order to overcome that language barrier.”

“And you know more than one tongue?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah. Spanish is my native language, or my first tongue, if you will, because of where I was raised, but I learned English, or what we call the universal tongue, on our planet, for school.”

“The variations in tongues are geographically based, then?”

“For the most part, yes.”

Excited whispers floated throughout the room. How fascinating, this species thought, to have varying languages throughout the planet. What was next? Regionally-based governments, instead of a planet-wide system?

Lance could hear statements like that, but then Pidge got over their shock, and interrupted.

“You can actually speak a different language? Really?”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Pidge, over half the population of Earth is able to speak a different language. It’s not unlikely that I can.”

Pidge shook their head. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that people who know more than one language are usually…”

“Finish that sentence, I dare you.” Lance’s tone dropped to a growl, but Pidge did not back down.

“Usually smarter.”

Lance offset his jaw, looked up, and then shook his head.

“Smarter. Pidge, really? How exactly do you see me then?”

Pidge’s cheeks reddened. “Exactly how it is. Let's face it Lance, you’re not the best pilot, nor the smartest Paladin of the group. You try to make jokes and use bad pickup lines, that usually don't work, you're lazy, and you have no motivation to be be here. You’re cocky, overconfident, you exaggerate, and you think the world should revolve around you. Sometimes, I wonder how you even got into the Garrison, but then I remember that it’s an alternative option to juvenile detention.”

The moment Pidge finished speaking, they slapped a hand over their mouth, their eyes shining. “Lance, I...That was mean…I…”

Lance held up his hand, and the room was silenced again. Out of the corner of Lance’s eye, he could see Shiro, Allura, Coran, Hunk, and Keith approaching.

Lance chuckled, and hung his head. “Pidge, let me ask you something. Why are you here?”

Pidge looked confused. “What do you mean? And does it matter, because I really shouldn’t have said…”

“Why are you here? In space? Why?”

“To find my family. But…”

“You want to get them back, and protect them, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“Now let me tell you about me. I have seven siblings, two brothers and five sisters. Three of my siblings are older, the rest are younger. My oldest sister is military, specifically Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, in the Army division. She’s married, has one kid. The second oldest is in college, Stanford. She wants to be a lawyer, and she got a full ride. Next, we’ve got my older brother, who’s technically my twin, but was two hours early. He studies to be a meteorologist. Then there’s me, who, like mi hermana (2), is studying abroad. I was the top of my class for 8 years in a row, and I worked for it, every day. I helped raise mis hermanos menores (3), with my brother and my parents, one of which is autistic and doesn't speak. Mis padres no hablan inglés (4), my older brother doesnt either. I had to learn for the entrance exam to the Garrison. Tuve que enseñar yo inglés (5). I learned so I could go to space, and make them proud. Only now I’m here, and here, space, well, it terrifies me. The Galra were in our system, on Kerberos, which means they could go to Earth, they could do to our planet what they did to the Balmera. I miss them, like hell, but they ARE my reason for still being here. I want to protect them, so forgive me for apparently annoying you with mi personalidad arrogante, but don't you dare say I have no reason to be here. And you’re right. I don't understand you half the time, and you know why? Because I’m still learning. I learn off of you, Kunk, and Shiro, because you guys know how to communicate fluently. I don't. Do you know how frustrating it is to translate everything I say in my head before I say it? To have people laugh at me when I mess up? You should try talking in my shoes sometime, see how you like it.”

“Lance,” Keith called out. “I think you meant..”

“I know what I meant to mean! I know what I want to say, I’m just not smart enough to say it in English! But do any of you know how smart I am in Spanish? No. Why does the intelligence of someone have to depend on their ability to communicate and their ability to follow instructions? And why are people mocked because they aren't able to do so? Why are they seen as stupid, primitive, and as a source of entertainment? It’s not funny. It’s painful, and terrifying.”

Lance took a deep breath, and continued.

“Did you know that the reason I tell jokes and corny pickup lines is because I know that if I mess those up, it’s funny. And then people don't realize it’s because I couldn't say it properly. Other times, I'm terrified to open my mouth, because I say something stupid or wrong, and people will think I’m dumb. Just like you.”

With that, Lance breathed out and hung his head, and then, without looking at anyone, he walked off, back to the castle, alone.

* * *

Translations:

(1) "No, actually, I do not understand you half of the time, because most of the time, you are using words and phrases that I don't know. You spent the last hour talking about something that you clearly understand, and know that I do not because I am not as good at science and technology as you!"

(2) My sister

(3) My younger siblings

(4) My parents do not speak English

(5) I had to teach myself English

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry, Pidge will redeem themselves in the next chapter. This is not technically part of my other Voltron series, because there are no ships in this story, but I basically felt like Lance had very little character development, and I wanted to contribute to that. I apologize for my bad Spanish, my beta is learning high-school Spanish and they had to correct some stuff, but the rest was left to the internet.


End file.
